The present invention relates to methods and compositions for the needleless administration of permanent cosmetics and tattoos. In particular, the present invention relates to hypodermic injectors for use in delivering pigment or other desired materials to targeted layers of the skin.
Since ancient times, people have used paint and other coloring techniques to improve attractiveness and for cultural or religious purposes. Today, many people seek permanent colorations or other permanent or long-term cosmetic enhancement as a substitute for repeated application of cosmetics. A number of intradermal injection and surgical devices for use in applying permanent cosmetics have been known for years. They are commonly used, for example, to create decorative tattoos on a person""s skin or to form permanent eyelid liners to replace paint-on cosmetic eyelid liners. The devices inject ink, dye, or other marking fluid just under the skin surface, so that the ink is retained within the skin and the color of the ink and the design formed by the ink injection pattern is visible.
The devices use a skin-penetrating needle which has the capacity to retain some quantity of ink or dye, a mechanism to reciprocate the needle for repeated punctures of the skin to implant the ink under the skin in the desired pattern, and a pen-like housing which the operator holds and uses to guide the device. A number of different devices, particularly with different types of reciprocating needle drives, have been disclosed over the years (See e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,840,076; 4,508,106; 4,644,952; 4,798,582; and 6,033,421 herein incorporated by reference in their entireties).
All of the currently used methods for delivering permanent makeup, tattoo pigment, and other cosmetic materials to the subdermal tissue require the use of one or more needles that penetrate the skin to deliver the pigment or dye. The colored pigment is applied to the skin by superficially puncturing the skin, and moving the needle in an axial reciprocal motion in and out of the skin to urge the color pigment into position just under the skin, where the pigment is permanently retained. This procedure inevitably involves exposure of the needle to blood in the body tissues. Such methods present a risk of disease transmission and infection, pain, and apprehension in treated subjects.
Because of the HIV and hepatitis epidemics, among a host of other diseases, healthcare and other professionals who routinely use needles have raised serious concerns about their health and safety, as well as that of their subjects. For example, the once routine procedure of administering cosmetics through the use of needles may be a life-threatening event. Infectious diseases have been transmitted to healthcare workers and other professionals by needlestick and sharp injuries. For example, over one million needlestick injuries are reported every year. Sixty to ninety percent of all reported needlestick injuries are incurred by the administering personnel. Indeed, needlestick injuries are the most common occupational injury experienced by healthcare professionals. Needlestick injuries have been shown to transmit a large number of infectious diseases, including, AIDS, blastomycosis, brucellosis, cyptococosis, diphtheria, Ebola fever, gonorrhea (cutaneous), hepatitis B, herpes, hepatitis C, malaria, leptospirosis, mycobacteriosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, mycoplasmosis, staphylococcal infections, scrub typhus, toxoplasmosis, sporotrichosis, syphilis, streptococcal infections, and tuberculosis. Thus, the art is in need of methods and compositions for applying permanent cosmetics without the health risks, pain, and fear associated with conventional techniques.
The present invention relates to methods and compositions for the needleless administration of permanent makeup and tattoos. In particular, the present invention relates to hypodermic injectors for use in delivering pigment or other desired substances to targeted layers of the skin.
The present invention provides a system comprising a needleless injector suitable for injecting cosmetic material through a skin surface of a subject, the needleless injector comprising: a housing, wherein the housing includes an injection end comprising an orifice; an ampule containing the cosmetic material; a driver capable of forcing the cosmetic material out of the orifice of the injection end of the housing at a sufficient velocity to pierce the skin surface of the subject; and an energy mechanism for moving the driver. In some embodiments of the present invention, the cosmetic material comprises pigment. In other embodiments, the cosmetic material is selected from the group including, but not limited to, collagen, elastin, polypeptides, and nutrients.
The needleless injector of the present invention may be associated with a variety of features that improve safety and/or utility. For example, in some embodiments of the present invention, the needleless injector further comprises a nozzle tip. In preferred embodiments, the nozzle tip is detachably connected to the injection end of the housing. In other preferred embodiments, the nozzle tip is transparent. In yet other preferred embodiments, the nozzle tip comprises a pressure sensitive activator, wherein the activator is capable of activating the energy mechanism, for example, when the end of the injector is pressed against the skin surface of the subject.
In other embodiments, of the present invention, the needleless injector further comprises a trigger, wherein the trigger is capable of activating the energy mechanism. Triggers include, but are not limited to, levers, buttons, switches, or other easy to manipulate activation means.
In yet other embodiments of the present invention, the needleless injector comprises a plurality of ampules containing the cosmetic material. The ampules may be included within the needleless injector or may be external to the injector, but attached by one or more injection tubes to the injector.
In some preferred embodiments of the present invention, the energy mechanism comprises compressed gas. The compressed gas can be supplied in one or more gas cartridges, by an air compressor attached to the housing through one or more tubes, or any other means of delivering forces air through or into the injection device. In alternate embodiments, the energy mechanism is selected from a group including, but not limited to, springs and pyrotechnic charges.
The present invention further provides a method of injecting cosmetic material through a skin surface of a subject, comprising: providing a needleless injector, wherein the injector comprises the cosmetic material and a means for forcing the cosmetic material out of the injector at a sufficient velocity to pierce the skin surface of the subject; placing a surface of the injector in contact with the skin surface of the subject; and activating the means for forcing the cosmetic material out of the injector at a sufficient velocity to pierce the skin surface of the subject.
The present invention also provides a method of injecting cosmetic material through a skin surface of a subject, comprising: providing any of the systems described above; placing the needleless injector of the system in contact with the skin surface of the subject; and activating the energy mechanism.